


Happiness Is....

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Pridecember 2019 [28]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Yami Yuugi | Atem Has His Own Body, Yu-Gi-Oh! Pridecember 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-19 14:57:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22712608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Just once Atem would like to see Seto give a smile that wasn't either in the heat of battle or directed at his brotherHe's willing to go to great lengths to accomplish this goal
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto
Series: Pridecember 2019 [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560421
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	Happiness Is....

**Author's Note:**

> Day 28 of Pridecember- "Smile"

Seto Kaiba does not smile

Not unless it's the gloating, victorious, smirk of defeating an enemy or acquiring a company

He smiles about accomplishments, about victories, about successes

He smiles about the things that bring him pride

But that's where it ends

Every once in a wile, Atem has witnessed a slight upwards tilt of lips towards Mokuba, for one reason or another, but in terms of genuine, true, happiness, that's really where it ended, the rest of his smiles seemed to come and go with the course of games or taunting his enemies, but that wasn't enough for Atem

Atem wanted to see what Seto's smile looked like when it was real- when it was full of nothing but joy, rather than just pride or victory

So he decided to make an effort to find it, to find something that would make Seto give him that genuine smile, he wanted to make Seto happy

....

It was a little harder to accomplish than he first thought

~+~

"How did you know I liked this band?"

Well, that wasn't the first thing that Atem thought his partner would say upon being presented with concert tickets, but, he supposed he should have expected something like that

"I have my ways,"

Those ways were Mokuba, mostly

"I also double checked your schedule and you should be free for that show, so don't worry, I did my research,"

Seto was quiet for a moment before giving a simple nod and staring at the tickets again

"Very well, you'll be accompanying me, won't you?"

"Ofcourse,"

Atem had hoped that his own smile would spark Seto's, but...evidently not

"I'll see you this evening then,"

Damn, not even a twitch

~+~

"Now where on earth did you find blue roses?"

"Oh it wasn't that difficult," Atem hummed as he watched Seto slowly accept the bouquet

"I know how fond you are of them, did you know that in flower language they represent obtaining the impossible? As well as love at first sight?"

"I knew about the first one," Seto mused, carefully pulling a rose from the tissue papper wrapped around the stems

"It's because blue roses can't be found in nature, they have to be genetically altered,"

"What, no comments about how flower language is just bullshit designed to help sell more flowers?" Atem teased playfully as he watched Seto examine the rose for thorns- he wouldn't find any, Atem made sure of that

"It is to a point, but historically, flowers _have_ been used to communicate, so it isn't entirely a salespitch," he mused, setting the rest of the flowers on his desk before grabbing a pair of scissors and snipping the stem of the rose in his hand to be far shorter, almost non-existent

"For example, green carnations have been used in the past as symbols of homosexual attraction, wich was quite handy as a code system back when most people were still closeted," he mused, carefully tucking the rose behind Atem's ear and taking a step back to study it

"You should wear that to the concert, blue is really your color, shame you don't wear more of it,"

Well damn, Atem was left with a thundering heartbeat and a red face, but still no smile...

~+~

"Isn't this a bit juvenile for you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I've never been to a festival before, not one like this anyway, you forget how little of my life has actually been lived in Japan," Atem insisted, his expression bright as he tugged Seto through the festival grounds, looking for anything that might hold his interest

"Fair,"

Well that was... less of an argument than Atem first expected

"Where shall we begin?"

Seto was quiet for a short moment, looking around at the booths and-... _smiling_....

"Water pistols, you may excel at card games, Pharaoh, but you've never held a gun, I on the other hand not only consistently win these games, but I've held _real_ guns in the past, I know very well how to shoot, and I'll prove it to you!"

Well, it was a smug smirk centered around games, it didn't really count, much to Atem's frustration

That wasn't going to keep him from indulging his lover, however

"Don't assume that just because I'm new at this I won't still be able to top you Seto," he chuckled lowly, taking a step forward and leaning up on his toes

"You know, as I did last night?"

That one comment inspired 95% of the festival to be a non-ending competition, only stopping for the occasional bite of festival food

He definitely saw Seto smile alot that night, but...

It was the same as always- only ever in competition

~+~

".............Why is there a dog here?"

"Do you like her?" Atem asked excitedly

"I... am confused by her presence in our lives," Seto replied slowly

"Well, Mokuba told me that you've always wanted a German Shepherd, and I just happened to find one at a shelter today," or in reality, had spent three days tracking one down

"I couldn't just leave her there,"

Seto pursed his lips, slowly reaching out to take the puppy from the pharaoh

"We already have a cat," he pointed out

"I'm aware, but Sookie was _my_ choice in pet, you should get a choice too, and you know she gets lonely when we leave her at home on her own,"

Seto gave a quiet hum, sitting back in his desk chair and starting to scratch the dog behind her ears

She seemed to like it, considering that she was wagging her tail and nudging eagerly into his hand

"We'll have to discuss a name for her,"

Well, it wasn't a smile, but Atem could clearly see the lightness in his eyes so.... he'd atleast consider this a success

~+~

Atem had been trying for weeks to make Seto smile in some context- ANY context- outside of competition, but to no avail, and he was honestly on his way to giving up

As much as he didn't want to admit it, maybe there was just nothing he could do to make Seto genuinely smile...

Atleast, that was what he had thought for a short time, but there was one morning, weeks after he had begun this mission, where he was very much proven wrong

The sunlight was shining in through the windows, forcing Atem to wake against his will

He was usually something of a morning person- though not as much as Seto- but he had gone to bed later than usual the night before and he wasn't especially pleased with being woken at the moment

Still, unable to resist, his eyes fluttered open, head a little fuzzy as he carefully lifted his head, and-....

Oh.......

_Oh_ , Seto was smiling at him

Laying across from Atem, staring at him, a soft, adoring smile on his face...

"Good morning," was all Atem could manage to say, a little bit too stunned to think of anything more intelligent than that

"Morning," Seto replied simply, leaning over and giving Atem a kiss on the head- wich wasn't unusual but-...

"I have to get going, want to join me in the shower?"

Atem had never rolled out of bed so quickly in his life

So maybe there _was_ something else that could make Seto smile, aside from competitions and Mokuba

...

Too bad Atem still couldn't figure out what it was


End file.
